Method to establish a home network on multiple physical layers

Abstract

A home networking architecture and a physical layer protocol is configured such that a communication device in the home can access a home network over any one of the available transmissions media, i.e. in-house telephone wiring or electrical wiring, or a wireless network. The proposed networking architecture utilizes a bridging concept of combining multiple LANs residing on the different physical mediums available in the home, or small office building, or any other situation where a network is desired but adding additional infrastructure is undesirable or not possible.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A method for connecting a communications device to a network having a plurality of transmissions media, comprising the steps of: 
       a) determining availability of each of the plurality of transmissions media in the network;  
       b) collecting data from each of the plurality of available transmissions media in turn; and,  
       c) determining in response to said collected data on which of the plurality of transmissions media to establish a network connection from the communications device to the network, wherein the step of collecting data further comprises:  
       selecting a first available transmissions medium from the plurality of transmissions media;  
       acquiring self-ID messages from devices connected to said selected transmissions medium;  
       broadcasting an auto-select message on said selected transmissions medium;  
       receiving acknowledgment messages broadcast by said devices connected to said selected transmissions medium in response to said auto-select message; and  
       choosing a next available transmissions medium from the plurality of transmissions media, and repeating the steps of selecting, acquiring, broadcasting and receiving, until all available transmissions media have been examined.  
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of determining availability further comprises sensing data traffic in each of the plurality of transmissions media. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of providing, in each of said self-ID messages, a device identification of a sending device. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3  further comprising the step of providing, in each of said self-ID messages, a data sequence for determining signal quality in said selected transmissions medium. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  providing in said auto-select message an identity of the communications device connecting to the network. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5  further providing in said auto-select message a special data stream whereby the communications device connecting to the network can calculate signal quality. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  providing in said acknowledgment message an identification of an acknowledging device connected to the network. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7  further providing in said acknowledgment message signal quality information. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1  wherein said data collecting step further comprises collecting device IDs of communications devices already connected to the network. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1  wherein said data collecting step further comprises collecting signal quality information from communications devices already connected to the network. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1  wherein said network connection determining step further comprises determining if acknowledgment messages have been received from all communications devices connected to a particular transmissions medium. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1  wherein said network connection determining step further comprises comparing signal quality in the available transmissions media and connecting to the transmissions medium having the best signal quality. 
     
     
       13. A method for connecting a communication device to a network having a plurality of transmissions media, comprising the steps of: 
       a) auto-sensing available transmissions media on the network from network traffic;  
       b) selecting a first available transmissions medium;  
       c) collecting IDs from all active devices on said selected transmissions medium;  
       d) broadcasting an auto-select message on said selected transmissions medium;  
       e) receiving acknowledgment messages from active devices on said selected transmissions medium in response to said auto-select message;  
       f) storing said received acknowledgment messages;  
       g) choosing a next available transmissions medium from the plurality of transmissions media;  
       h) repeating steps c-g until all transmissions media have been examined; and,  
       i) determining in response to said stored acknowledgments which of the plurality of transmissions media is to be used for establishing a network connection from the communication device to the network.  
     
     
       14. A communications device for a network having a plurality of transmissions media, comprising: 
       a) availability means for determining availability of each of a plurality of transmissions media in the network;  
       b) collection means for collecting data from each of the plurality of available transmissions media in turn; and,  
       c) network connection means for determining in response to said collected data on which of the plurality of transmissions media to establish a network connection from the communications device in the network, wherein said collection means further comprises:  
       selecting means for selecting a first available transmissions medium from the plurality of transmissions media;  
       self-ID collecting means for acquiring self-ID messages from devices connected to said selected transmissions medium;  
       auto-select means for broadcasting an auto-select message on said selected transmissions medium;  
       acknowledgment means for receiving acknowledgment messages broadcast by said devices connected to said selected transmissions medium in response to said auto-select message; and,  
       means for choosing a next available transmissions medium from the plurality of transmissions media, and continuing until all available transmissions media have been examined.  
     
     
       15. The communications device of  claim 14  wherein said availability means further comprises means for sensing data traffic in each of the plurality of transmissions media. 
     
     
       16. The communications device of  claim 14  wherein said collection means further comprises collecting device IDs of communications devices already connected to the network.